In tonight’s lecture–the second in a 3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry–master jeweler and art historian Karen Bachmann will explore the development of the memento mori, objects whose very raison d’être is to remind the beholder that they, too, will die. Bachman will trace the symbolism and iconography of the memento mori and death’s head imagery in both Medieval and Renaissance art, focusing on jewelry. She will also discuss the development of the “portable relic” — a wearable form of body part reliquary, will be the focus of this lecture. The importance of hair in contemporaneous art of the period will be addressed, as well as the development of bereavement jewelry with hair.

Karen Bachmann is a fine jeweler with over 25 years experience, including several years on staff as a master jeweler at Tiffany & Co. She is a Professor in the Jewelry Design Dept at Fashion Institute of Technology as well as the School of Art & Design at Pratt Institute. She has recently completed her MA in Art History at SUNY Purchase with a thesis entitled “Hairy Secrets; Human Relic as Memory Object in Victorian Mourning Jewelry”. In her downtime she enjoys collecting biological specimens, amateur taxidermy and punk rock.